Story by Janie Magruder Photos by Darryl Webb GCU Today Magazine They grew up worlds apart, one in Swaziland with missionary parents and four siblings, the other in a smaller military family that over the years lived on more than a dozen Air Force bases in the United States. Their paths to Grand Canyon University’s College of Nursing and Health Care Professions also were divergent. The science enthusiast toured GCU’s campus as a high school student, was intrigued by the cadaver lab and enrolled as a freshman, while the athlete transferred as a college senior after the future of her school’s track and field program became muddy. But once they met, Bekah Hansz and Lauren Graham discovered they had much in common. They were the same age and came to GCU from the same city, Colorado Springs. They shared career aspirations in nursing and were interested in the military, specifically, Army ROTC. And now, the two women share the honor of being named distinguished military graduates — Graham in 2013 and Hansz in 2014 — by the U.S. Army. As such, they were among the top 10 percent of cadets in their respective classes, competing not only with other students […]

As part of its Homecoming/Canyon Day festivities, GCU will induct eight new members into its Alumni Hall of Fame during a ceremony Saturday on campus. The alumni, who were selected from each of the University’s colleges and athletics department, have dedicated their lives to helping others through education, nursing, counseling, science, coaching and the law, while reflecting GCU’s spirit and Christian ideals. Saturday’s ceremony, at 3:30 p.m. in the Student Union, second floor, is open to the GCU community and their guests and also will be live streamed here. GCU Today has a story about the inductees and what makes them tick.

GCU introduced a new blended learning format to a number of undergraduate classes during summer 2014 as a way to reinvent 100-level classes to be more engaging and valuable as core degree courses. The format, which combines the best elements of online and traditional classes, has already impacted student learning.

Story by Michael Ferraresi Photos by Darryl Webb GCU Today Magazine As his second graders sat cross-legged in front of a colorful interactive assignment board, Anthony Pérez cautiously monitored the lesson. His eyes darted from student to student to examine their varying responses. This time, though, he wasn’t the teacher. A girl in a pink hoodie held that title for the moment, at the request of “Mr. Pérez.” It was her turn to lead her Sunset Elementary peers — kids in braids, camouflage fleece jackets and well-worn sneakers — through multiple exercises in the cinder block room. She directed the class with a cartoonish rubber finger. Pérez learned early that this method allows students to feel what it’s like to guide their own classmates to the correct answers and digest the material with ease. The 32-year-old Grand Canyon University alumnus and west Phoenix native grew up on the same side of town as his students — many who come from immigrant families and low-income homes and are part of a district with a higher than average number of children who qualify for free or reduced-cost lunch. In Arizona, a statewide teacher shortage, struggles with funding for public schools, and a […]

By Janie Magruder GCU Today Magazine There are no tiny patients born too early for their own good, no new mothers wrung out with worry over their babies’ ragged breaths, no nurses rushing to respond to jarring alarms in Marla Booker’s new workplace. In fact, the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Sidra Medical and Research Center, which Booker has been hired to help staff and run, isn’t open yet. But there’s still plenty for this Grand Canyon University alumna to do in a place that could not be more different from where she spent her entire adult life, as a wife, mother, nurse and hospital administrator. In November, not 30 days after walking across the GCU Arena stage to accept her diploma for a master’s degree in health care administration, Booker moved 6,600 miles from her longtime home in Connecticut to Qatar, a small, oil-rich nation on the coast of the Persian Gulf. Ending a 25-year career at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center in Hartford, she is helping create a state-of-the-art hospital for women and children in the capital city of Doha. It was a bold move for anyone but especially for someone who, at age 47, never had traveled […]

Grand Canyon University online professor John Steele was selected as an online professor to be recognized during Online Student Night along with three online students. Steele has developed a way to improve GCU online education as part of the CIRT Advisory Board and the Plagiarism Task Force. He is praised by peers and students for his intrinsic dedication to student success.

Gary Skinner didn’t jump right into college out of high school. He created his own businesses and fought through some serious health issues, including one that led him to become blind before finding his way into GCU’s online psychology program. Now, at 63, he is soon to be equipped with a bachelor’s degree that could lead him into a counseling career.

Three expert communicators have been invited to share their insights at Grand Canyon University this month. The Lambda Pi Eta communications honors society is hosting scholars Drs. Douglas Kelley and Loren Schwarzwalter on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Colangelo College of Business lecture hall for a presentation related to human deception and forgiveness. On Feb. 20, search engine optimization writer Dr. Nicholas White is slated to speak at 11:15 a.m. at Room 139-140 in CAS (Building 6).

In less than two years, the GCU Honors Institute has expanded to include nearly 300 students and more than 100 incoming freshmen are prepared to join in the fall, according to program manager Breanna Boling. The Institute provides students with exclusive access to guest speakers, internship opportunities and professional development training, among other academic perks. GCU Today has the story.

Fall semester at GCU was a time of great growth — in students, courses, programs and learning — and as GCU hosts its first winter commencement this afternoon for about 700 traditional graduates, GCU Today takes the opportunity to celebrate the University’s stellar faculty. They have gone beyond the call of duty to assist students inside their classrooms and outside of them, too, dedicating many extra hours, evenings and weekends to student success. Click here to read stories about several of them.